All Forum Posts by: Tim Wei

Jimmy Hong, Las Vegas is a great place for buying rental properties, but I'd suggest that you know someone there personally, otherwise it could be hard to manage from OC. I had the advantage of my in-laws living there since 2005, so they know all the areas pretty well. Although we hired a management company to take care of our rental, it's still helpful to have someone close by to look at the property once in a while.

You are correct that LA market can be volatile, but I guess the upside of it is that it seems there are always more people coming into LA than leaving, so you know the demand is always there. I try to always be conservative when running comps. Let me know whenever you decide to look into LA area to invest, maybe we could work together in the future. Good luck!

Raquel L. Welcome to BP, I am also new to BP but I am a new investor as well. One of the really good RE clubs in LA that I've been to is called For Investors By Investors (FIBI) in Pasadena. They meet up once a month. Next meeting is their summer networking event on June 27 in Long Beach, check it out!

Jimmy Hong, My first flip was actually an accidental flip, and it was in Vegas. My in-laws live in Vegas, and this particular house was basically in the same neighborhood, so we bought it last year in Sept with the intention of renting it out, but as the market heats up, we've decided to wait out a bit more and see if it would made sense to flip, so we finally put it back on the market in Feb and it was closed in early May. Purchase price: $133K, $1400 closing cost, Rehab costed $9K (it was a light rehab), and we sold it for $197K.

As far as LA, I can fill you in as we get a few deals done, but we generally look for houses that are under $250K, with the market being so competitive, we often times have to offer way over the listing price, and 70% rule doesn't really work anymore in this market, realistically it's more like 75%, which can be a little bit more risky.

Jimmy Hong, congrats on your first flip! you've done a great job. I am a newbie rehabber just like you, and I have also recently completed my first flip. Right now we are in the process of purchasing a few properties in LA (baldwin park and Monrovia), they are all in escrow, but since they are all short sales, we are now just waiting for lender approval. I was surprised that condos could generate that much return, in the future if you see any deals coming your way and you need funding, maybe I could help :).

Thanks Nick for the quick response. We are still looking into that possiblity, but so far I think the margin for flipping is getting thin, and it's getting harder and harder to find low priced houses in decent areas.

I am a newbie to biggerpockets.com and just wanted to get some ideas from everyone here about our situation here. A little bit about myself: my wife and I both currently work full time at corporate jobs. Other than our primary home, we bought two investment properties in Las Vegas last year, one was rented out, and the other one is in the process of resell. After working at corporate jobs for a number of years, and with our family’s help, we have gathered about $350K (including the proceeds that will be collected from the Vegas house), we are hoping to make the transition to full time investors in the near future. As more and more cash offers flood the market here in Socal area and house price recovers, we can either use the entire money to flip one house at a time, or buy many cheaper houses in less desirable areas, to collect rental income.
Or, should we give up southern California and look into out of state markets? The goal here is to to just fully utilize our initial capital. I would love to hear eveyone's though on this, appreciate your help!